Enables inexperienced personnel to work efficiently and simplifies calculation of best logistics routes in new territories
TOKYO, JAPAN – WEBWIRE – Monday, April 24, 2023
NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced it has launched the Sharing Operation Optimization System, which uses AI to optimize operations for maintaining effective allocations of shared micromobility vehicles and replacing depleted batteries used by these vehicles.
The system was adopted by DOCOMO BIKE SHARE, INC., the provider of a bicycle-sharing service that allows users to reserve electric-assist bikes at the most convenient bike station, ride comfortably around the city, and then freely choose their preferred return station. Hereafter, the system will be gradually deployed throughout Tokyo to manage the companys shared-bike fleet.
Micromobility-sharing services allow users to easily rent bicycles and other small, lightweight vehicles and then conveniently return them to any station operated by the service. As the number of sharing-service users continues to grow globally, the corresponding increases in vehicles and renting/returning stations is making it difficult to ensure that vehicles in each fleet are optimally allocated and equipped with charged batteries at all times.
DOCOMOs new system uses AI to generate optimized plans for collecting and reallocating vehicles and replacing spent batteries. The system uses machine learning to simulate vehicle movements in order to predict the availability of vehicles and charged batteries at each station. Maintenance personnel can then use tablets or other mobile devices to view precisely which vehicles need to be trucked to other stations and which batteries need to be replaced for maximum operational efficiency.
The system forecasts rental/return trends based on a variety of data, such as in-use and returned vehicles, weather forecasts, date and time, travelling distances between stations, and each trucks storage capacity as well as quantities of vehicles and batteries on board any truck at any time. Using this information, the system generates an optimized reallocation plan, including the best transport routes. The system enables personnel with less experience to function as efficiently as experienced staffers. It is also expected to help operators to develop efficient operating routes in new territories.
Going forward, DOCOMO will continue to assess the systems performance, including its forecasting accuracy and the effectiveness of its recommended routes for bike reallocation, based on which the company expects to further upgrade the system and adapt the technology for supply-and-demand optimization in various other fields.
AppendixSystem Overview
DOCOMOs Sharing Operation Optimization System consists of three technologies: demand forecasting, simulations and reallocation planning.
1. Demand Forecasting Technology
Demand forecasting technology makes hourly predictions of how many vehicles will be in use and how many will be available at each station over the next 24 hours. In addition to real-time data, the system takes into account other data such as weather forecasts and dates and times. It has been shown to have the capacity to accurately forecast changing variations in vehicle demand.
2. Simulation Technology
This technology uses Multi-Agent Simulations*1 to project the precise movements among stations by the shared vehicles and their logistical-support trucks. The movement of each vehicle is forecasted using real-time data and statistics, including the probability of vehicles moving between specific stations and predicted demand at each station. Using these input values, the system forecasts the number of vehicles at each station and the remaining charge of each vehicles battery. Simulations are run every 10 minutes to enable the reallocation plan to be continuously updated.
3. Reallocation Planning Technology
Reallocation planning technology uses the simulation results to generate joint optimization plans*2 for vehicle collection/reallocation and battery replacement at each station, including the order in which trucks should visit stations and which transport routes to take. Forecasts of conditions in coming hours support the prioritization of battery replacements at the busiest stations, collections at stations where vehicle returns are expected to spike, etc., helping inexperienced personnel to work more efficiently and operators to develop efficient operating routes in new territories.
- Replicates the behavior of people interacting with others and their surrounding environments, such as when growing numbers of people avoid an increasingly crowded road, thereby changing the overall flow of people.
- Computational process to maximize or minimize evaluation values calculated from the combination of several different indicators by repeatedly performing appropriate actions on functions that are controllable by the system.
About NTT DOCOMO, INC.
NTT DOCOMO, INC., Japans leading mobile operator with over 86 million subscriptions, is one of the worlds foremost contributors to 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies. Beyond core communications services, DOCOMO is challenging new frontiers in collaboration with a growing number of entities (+d partners), creating exciting and convenient value-added services that change the way people live and work. Under a medium-term plan toward 2020 and beyond, DOCOMO is pioneering a leading-edge 5G network to facilitate innovative services that will amaze and inspire customers beyond their expectations.
https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/
Mar 29, 2022 | Business
NTT DOCOMO, INC., and NTT Anode Energy Corporation (NTT AE) announced today that they will sign an off-site corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) to power DOCOMO’s Okayama building which houses network facilities fully with renewable energy, mainly from NTT AE’s newly constructed solar power plant, beginning this April.
This will be the first time for DOCOMO to implement an off-site PPA and is part of the company’s efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to virtually zero by 2030. The new solar power plant, which will supply electrical power exclusively to DOCOMO, will ensure that the company has stable, long-term access to power even if Japan’s energy market ever becomes unstable.
Through the new plant, which is located in Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture under the off-site PPA, NTT AE, acting as a distributor for its subsidiary ENNET Corporation, will supply electricity to the building in Okayama via the public power transmission and distribution network. For any contracted electricity that cannot be provided solely via solar power under the off-site PPA, NTT AE will purchase non-fossil certificates designated for renewable energy, to ensure that the percentage of power supplied to and used by the building will be raised to be classified as renewable to 100%. As a result, the building is expected to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (including non-fossil certificates) by approximately 10,000 tons per year.
Going forward, DOCOMO and NTT AE will continue to utilize NTT group assets to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions by adopting more renewable energy with additionality, thereby contributing to a carbon-neutral society in Japan.
About NTT DOCOMO
NTT DOCOMO, Japan’s leading mobile operator with over 83 million subscriptions, is one of the world’s foremost contributors to 3G, 4G and 5G mobile network technologies. Beyond core communications services, DOCOMO is challenging new frontiers in collaboration with a growing number of entities (“+d” partners), creating exciting and convenient value-added services that change the way people live and work. Under a medium-term plan toward 2020 and beyond, DOCOMO is pioneering a leading-edge 5G network to facilitate innovative services that will amaze and inspire customers beyond their expectations. https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/
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Dec 23, 2021 | Business
NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701) today announced it has provided packet core (5GC) and base stations (5G RUs, CU/DU) for the 5G standalone (SA)-based services that NTT DOCOMO, INC. (DOCOMO) launched commercially on December 13, 2021.
NEC’s 5G Core for SA enables flexible operation for a variety of services thanks to its cloud-native architecture, featuring container and separation of Control and User Plane (CUPS)*. In addition, drawing on network slicing technology, NEC’s 5GC for SA helps create customized networks on demand according to the different requirements for 5G services that include eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband), mMTC (massive Machine Type Communication), and URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications).
Moreover, NEC’s 5G CU/DU, which was previously operating as non-standalone (NSA) on DOCOMO’s commercial network, has been seamlessly migrated to 5G SA, simply by a software upgrade in conjunction with the aforementioned 5GC.
“5G SA enables the provision of networking solutions that can flexibly accommodate a wide variety of use cases,” said Hiroshi Kobayashi, Senior Vice President NTT DOCOMO. “Through its 5G SA, NTT DOCOMO will contribute to the creation of new value and the resolution of social issues, and promote the further advancement of its 5G network to make the lives of its customers more convenient and prosperous.”
“I am honored to have been able to contribute to the commercial launch of NTT DOCOMO’s 5G SA services,” said Atsuo Kawamura, Executive Vice President, NEC. “By providing high-quality and reliable 5GC and base station equipment, we will strongly support the expansion of DOCOMO’s 5G services, as well as contribute to the further development of next-generation mobile infrastructure throughout global markets.”
For more information on NEC 5GC read our blog “Discover the real 5G”
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*A technology that provides a virtual operating environment with fewer computer resources by constructing an application execution environment on an operating system that is isolated from other processes on the OS.
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies while promoting the brand statement of “Orchestrating a brighter world.” NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. For more information, visit NEC at https://www.nec.com.
Copyright ©2021 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Japan Corporate News Network.
docomo Open House ’24 on January 17 and 18.